Europe

A trio of Senate hawks that's long supported Georgia's pro-Western leader said Wednesday they were “disappointed” by calls from Monday's election winner for President Mikheil Saakashvili step down before his term ends next year.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) are longtime supporters of Saakashvili, who led his country into a disastrous war with Russia in 2008. Saakashvili's party was defeated in parliamentary elections on Monday, and the leader of the opposition Georgian Dream coalition, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, is expected to be named prime minister.

In a joint statement Wednesday, the senators called Saakashvili a “democratic statesman” and “Georgian patriot,” papering over criticism that he had grown increasingly authoritarian and hounded the opposition. The senators congratulated Ivanishvili, who is seen as pro-Russian, but warned him to be “magnanimous in victory” and “not use the instruments of the state for political retribution.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee members Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) applauded Georgia's first democratic transition on Tuesday after monitoring the former Soviet republic's parliamentary elections.

The opposition Georgia Dream coalition, led by the country's richest man, beat the party of incumbent president and U.S. ally Mikheil Saakashvili after a bitter campaign. Saakashvili, whose term ends next year, has warned that opposition leader and soon-to-be prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili could take the country back into Russia's orbit after making his fortune in that country during the 1990s.

“As members of the United States Senate and two strong friends of Georgians everywhere, we obviously have no candidate in this race,” the senators said. “We look forward to working with all of Georgia’s leaders to deepen our bilateral ties and help further strengthen Georgia’s young and advancing democracy.”

The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi also praised the election's outcome and extended a hand to the victor.

“We congratulate President Saakashvili on presiding over another important stage in the maturing of Georgia’s democracy and on his statesmanlike handling of these events,” Ambassador Richard Norland said in a statement. “We congratulate Bidzina Ivanishvili on Georgian Dream’s successful performance. The United States encourages both sides to work together to continue to build a better future for all the people of Georgia.”

German lawmakers said they could block a planned merger between European companies BAE Systems and EADS after EADS CEO Tom Enders addressed the parliament Wednesday.

Kerstin Andreae, a member of the German parliament's economic committee, said lawmakers were raising questions over whether the merger should proceed due to disagreements between the government and EADS, the Guardian reported.

"More questions were left open than answered," she said. "There are disagreements between the government and Tom Enders on the question of the valuation of the golden share,” referring to state holdings in the companies.

Sen. Chris Coons said Russia’s “diminished role” in global affairs is causing their leaders to act more aggressively.

The leader of Georgia’s main opposition is pushing the Obama administration to denounce alleged campaign violations ahead of Oct. elections.

"The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks," said Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Obama spokesman says U.S. is "disappointed" in Russian band's guilty verdict and cites serious concerns about musicians' treatment.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will lead the presidential delegation to the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, the White House announced on Thursday.

The delegation will also include former Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan and former baseball player Curtis Pride, both members of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. Reggie Love, the president’s former personal aide and “body man,” is also part of the delegation, along with Deputy National Security Adviser Benjamin Rhodes and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Louis B. Susman.
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Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is leading a congressional delegation in a five-country tour of Europe this week to assess the European debt crisis.

Conrad's group was in Spain on Wednesday, to meet with the Bank of Spain and various businesspeople, and was scheduled to travel to Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal before leaving Europe on Friday. Each of those countries has struggled with sovereign debt, which has led to a rolling crisis every year for the past several years as these countries struggle to restructure their debt.

Congress is turning into the latest battleground pitting Israel and Greece on one side and Turkey on the other.

Tensions between U.S. allies Israel and Turkey have been high since Israel intercepted a Turkish vessel defying the embargo on Gaza two years ago, resulting in the death of nine Turkish activists. Now Israel is drawing closer to Turkish archrival Greece, with direct repercussions on Capitol Hill.

Last week, House Foreign Affairs Committee member Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) launched the Congressional Hellenic-Israeli Alliance, a new congressional caucus Bilirakis says aims to focus on the “flourishing relationship between the United States, Greece, Israel, and Cyprus.” 

In a statement Monday, Bilirakis applauded Israeli President Shimon Peres's trip to Greece this week, during which Peres slammed Turkey's interference in Cyprus.

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